Hot sunny mornings, and rainy afternoons really brings on the flowers (and fungus, good work, Lindsey).

My Grt. Why Not is also blooming today. This flower seems to get darker red each time it blooms - I'm sure it was a nice rosy red when I first got it. Another flower on Luke Skywalker, and my purple NOID fading nicely.

Paul, that first Den...is stunning! does it have a name?
Elaine...my Why Not seems to be darker as well...it's almost burgundy..maybe it's the heat?
I LOVE your Luke Skywalker....great color and markings on that one!

Really like that first Den as well, Paul
Lindey, the more I look at those tibiana, the more I need to have one
And Elaine, that purple noid is still good looking

Ted,
I was surprised at how short the spike was on this one...after seeing Jim with a similar one that had a 6' long spike!

@vanozzi, Paul, it is so nice to see your Australian Dendrobiums in bloom! They are not easy to grow and bloom for me here!

@JMaurissen, Jacques, regarding your Bulbo question and thank you so much Patty for answering! Your plants look wonderful!
Jacques, I find that in my hands here in NJ Bulbo echinolabium needs good sunshine, close to Cattleya exposure I would say. This particular one like lots of water, I water it mostly daily with rain water, but if the basket can't drain well, or the plant is not well ventilated, new growths might rot. I planted this one some years ago into this Epiweb basket, there is no medium around the roots. Temps are warm to intermediate.

Very pretty, Lindsey! I love, love that Mymecophila!

Elaine, nice Show!! You can't beat Why Not, right? no complaints on the other two either!

That looks so kool, LIndsey. Maybe the one Jim has is justa more mature plant

Thank you all for the comments on my denrobiums.The first one asked about is Den. ''Pinterry'' (I think).The light hit the bloom just at the right angle, so not a bad pic.
A lot of these Den. were given to me by the wife of a much loved, now deceased member of our local orchid club.The names are very obscure.At the moment all are housed in the old dairy,isolated from my main collection of cyms, as I need to be sure they are not carrying virus.Eventually the old building will be converted into an acceptable orchid house, hopefully sooner than later.

a very beautiful photo and a lovely memory to go with the plant!

and the re-purpose of the old dairy into an orchid house is intriguing. Keep us posted on that.

I echo that!

Blooming for the first time , a recent 'bag baby' from Lowes. Rby. Sherri Styles 'Sunshine'


This is a very small window sill size plant with quite large flowers.

I like that one, Lindsey.

sugarcane said:I just finished my fungicide fun...and found some new things to take pictures of...


From the Redland Show..one of my preorders from Odom's Rlc. Yen Surprise 'Seiko' AM/AOS

Hi Sugarcane! Just curious as I am new to this. I live in Florida as well. Do you apply fungicide everytime we get a large amount of rainfall days at a time?

Thanks!!
Jen




Grt. Why Not sending up another spike with a few buds



Myrm. tibiana....I love these wacky flowers!

Yikes, we'd be spraying a lot of fungicide if we did that, Jen. No the particular fungicide you use will have directions as to how often to re-apply. Most of them are systemic (absorb into the plant) so some are every 2 weeks and some as long as 6 weeks apart.

Some of us have been less than diligent with the fungicide, but started this year to try and prevent it from getting started. But if you grow your orchids outside, it's always floating around so a good idea to get ahead of it.

Jen, there are others here WAY more knowledgeable than I am...someone will chime in . I have been dunking and spraying with Bayer 3 in 1 for roses...once a month...and I just bought a new product with Daconil that I sprayed 2 weeks later..I'm fertilizing on the other weeks.

Thanks Elaine!...I asked at a nursery once how often they do it..the answer was when it needs to be done..

Yeah, they probably wait until a whole bunch of plants show signs - not what we want to do. With systemics it's a bit more complicated because (same as antibiotics) the strains of fungus mutate and become immune if you just keep using one kind. My fungi all overcame the Bayer 3-in-1 a couple of years ago. So it's good to have a selection, and rotate what you use.

I'm now using Thio-Myl (same as Cleary's 3336 only a lot cheaper) every 6 weeks for leaf spotting, and trying the biologic stuff, Actinovate for the black spot and black rot fungi - Pythium and Phytopthora. It also is supposed to be good for the rust diseases that my plumeria, cannas and fig tree get. It sure worked like a charm on the powdery mildew my tomato plants had. We shall see . . . this week will be the first big test.

Nothing prevents disease better than good air circulation, though. Space between the plants and growing them in a spot where the wind blows is key.

Ok! I am going to add this to the regime. This is like a full time job! Lol.. Thanks everyone.

Orchids will take all the attention you're able to give them, that's for sure. In warm weather it's a busier schedule with fertilizing plus bug and fungus treatments, but it does ease up in cooler weather. Even when we have a run of dry weather in the summer I back off and let everybody dry out a lot.

(edited to add) On rainy days like this one, there's nothing much you can do though. Another chance to rest! Anything you spray on will be washed off, so its important to watch the weather and be ready to spray and fertilize on a day when it's not going to rain, or at least not rain until late in the day.

Thank you, Patty!
Jacques